Biblical Violence

Jesus and Violence One of the most cherished tenets of the Christian religion is the idea of being a good Christian. According to this, a person who believes in Christianity will strive not only to abide by the laws of man as well as those in the Bible, he or she will also have a sense of morality and rules of personal behavior which reflect their religious beliefs. This comes from the teachings of Jesus Christ as they are related in the Bible.

Despite the actions of those around him, even those who have betrayed him and mean to kill him, he still advocates for peace and attempts to prevent violence from being performed against those around him. One such example is in Mark 14:43-50. Soldiers come in to arrest Jesus after he has been betrayed by Judas. It is not enough that they take Jesus into custody, but the soldiers also have to perform vicious acts of violence within the confines of a Jewish temple.

It is written that after getting hold of Jesus, one of the soldiers "who stood by drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear" (14:47). This violent action is related in an almost off-hand manner but when examined, it is truly horrific.

Since the soldiers already have Jesus, there is no legitimate reason to harm the slave boy, let alone to remove a body part within a holy temple save to increase the perception that the enemy is acting for the sake of evil beyond their orders by supervisors. Another version where a slave is senselessly victimized in a very similar way in John 18:10-11.

While hiding within yet another temple, Jesus is targeted by the enemy who, rather than harm Jesus physically, instead harms a slave of the priest who is helping Jesus to hide. Simon Peter, after speaking to Jesus, "having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's slave, and cut off his right ear" (18:10). After this is done, Jesus begs that the sword be sheathed and no more violence be done. It is interesting to note that in all of the cases mentioned the victims of the violence are slaves.

During this period, slaves were subhuman according to the social hierarchy. Therefore, to harm a slave was not considered as equal an offense as harming a citizen, or even as harming an important animal. Another point of similarity is that in both cases, the slaves belong to priests. Neither case indicates that the slave has done anything to deserve the wrath of the person who harms them, but rather it seems clear that the target of violence is the priest or Jesus himself.

However, it is unlikely that Jesus will be harmed unless it is a situation where he allows it, such as in his crucifixion. Additionally, targeting a priest, while within the rights of a soldier of the realm, would be seen as too horrific. The only acceptable victim within this trio is the slave and so in both of these cases, it is the slaves who receives the violent wrath of the person with a sword. Why it is that the ears are both severed.